Modern Architecture in Japan

3 units

Japan was among the first non-Western countries to emerge as a major center of international modernism. This seminar will examine major movements, events, figures, sites, and other contingencies associated with this historical process. Themes will include national style, technology, architecture and art, tradition and historiography, historic preservation, housing, and institutions of architecture, such as schools, journals, construction industry, and codes and regulations. The seminar will start with the Meiji period when 19th century European architectural styles and construction methods were transplanted into Japan. We will end the course with the recent past, such as the early careers of Ando and Ito. Students in Architecture should have completed the Architectural History I & II sequence.